www.parkworld-online.com
Park Hoppin In association with Park Hoppin’with Susan Storey S
ong lyrics from 1990’s ‘Mercy Me’ include the line: “When it seemed the world could change at the blink of an eye.” It’s one that
has always stuck with me, and it can be applied to our lives and certainly our industry in so many ways. As a parent, it also describes the chapters – seasons – you go through with your children. My son, Aiden, and I spent New Year’s Eve
at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. While we have visited many Great Wolf resorts, it had
been 10 years since we stayed there. And even as I write this, I am thinking how those 10 years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Visiting parks and attractions serve as a measuring stick of time and milestones. Families will pose together at the entrance, or with a favourite character with each visit. Growth spurts are celebrated as children progress from toddler rides to medium to thrill. And even the mix of the visit itself changes, as parents divide and conquer attractions based on kids’ desires or heights, friends and others rotate in and out with the annual visits, and parents become purse and ‘stuff’ holders, while everyone else waits in queue. (I am not there yet!) What a difference ten years made for us. Aiden ran around the resort on his
own, understanding and solving MagiQuest. He didn’t need me too much but would still circle back for help deciphering a clue or two. In the water park, he immediately dashed across the floating lily pads. I swear I just helped him crawl across those, standing in the pool and holding his tiny hands as his feet slipped slowly over each one. We also had local friends join us, and Aiden quickly became part of a small preteen gang that floated around together but would ask us moms to all ride on the family slides. Our Great Wolf adventure included a side trip as well. We went to Aiden’s
first NFL game: the Cincinnati Bengals versus my team, the Buffalo Bills. Admittedly Aiden was not as excited as I was, but with incredible gifted tickets, I could not miss the chance to take him. If you follow football, then you
know that game was only played for nine minutes. Bills safety Damar Hamill suffered a medical emergency that brought everything to a sudden, scary stop. In the blink of an eye, 70,000 cheering fans stopped and silently stood together for over an hour, waiting and praying. This mother and son milestone was not how I envisioned it would go. And yet, in some ways, it was better. Strangers came together. They hugged. They ignored which team you supported and shared words of encouragement. The Bengals fans who had been lightly teasing Aiden about his Bills attire, fist bumped him and told him all would be OK. Two blinks of an eye and I saw him grow again, understanding compassion and unity. Thank you John Robinson, Melissa Burton and Kevin Eldridge, for making our trip one we’ll never forget. I celebrated the New Year
reminiscing and thinking how things change so fast. But I also thought
JANUARY 2023 5
about all there is ahead – more fun, more milestones, more new experiences, and more nostalgic repeat visits. So, I am going to use one more line from that song that is always playing in my head. It works for all of us. Our lives. Our families. Our industry - “Right here, right now. There is no other place I want to be.” Happy 2023.
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